Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 22: Revenge for the Prince's Substitute?
"Stay!"

Xie had no objection to Haiyue staying. She was unwilling to accept favors from others, but whenever she had the ability, she would help her neighbors, not to mention her own nephew.

However, since the county exam was mentioned, Xie Shi examined their academic performance and advised, "The county exam is approaching. Don't worry about other things. Focus on preparing for the exam. That's the right thing to do."

Hai Yue said, "Don't worry, Auntie. My fourteenth brother and I will not be affected by this case. Especially my fourteenth brother, he is very talented. His classmates in the academy all praise him as a 'Mr. of Taoism'. He is almost certain to pass the county and prefectural exams, and he will even be among the top students!"

Xie's mouth corners finally curved upwards, then pressed back down, and said lightly: "Big talk!"

Hai Yue said, "That's absolutely true. Fourteenth Brother, when has he ever been arrogant? I've benefited from his guidance over the past year, and I've made progress academically. He's not aiming too high. He just wants to pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, which will bring honor to our parents."

The imperial examinations in the Ming Dynasty were roughly divided into six sessions: county examination, prefectural examination, academy examination, provincial examination, metropolitan examination and palace examination.

Simply put, those who pass the first two exams are called "tongsheng", those who pass the first three exams are called "xiucai", those who pass the first four exams are called "juren", and those who pass the fifth exam are destined to be "jinshi". Finally, the ranking is determined in the sixth palace exam, and the top three are ranked first, second and third.

This also leads to a theoretical honor, which is to get first place in six exams in a row.

This is much more difficult than winning three top honors in a row in the Song Dynasty. Strictly speaking, there has never been anyone in the history of imperial examinations who won six top honors in a row. Huang Guan of the Ming Dynasty is controversial, and is one of the "Three Top Honors and Six First Honors" in the notes of later generations, which is not very authentic. Qian Qi of the Qing Dynasty did win first place in six exams, but they were not in the same session, so it cannot be called winning consecutively.

Haiyue had never thought about that. He never aimed too high. For the time being, he positioned himself not as a Jinshi, but as a Juren first.

His younger brother Hai Rui had the talent to become a Jinshi. He could not even think of getting into the top three in the first class, and the second class was unlikely either. But even if he was in the top three and was a Jinshi, if he really passed the exam when he was young, his future would be limitless, far better than the late bloomers in history.

There is no mother who doesn't want her child to succeed, and Xie was no exception. After hearing Haiyue's high praise, she turned to her son and finally did not suppress him this time. Instead, she still reminded him: "Learning never ends, and you must not have the slightest bit of arrogance!"

Hai Rui immediately leaned forward and said politely, "I will follow your mother's instructions!"

Hai Yue said, "Aunt, after the college entrance examination is over, how about letting Fourteenth Brother stay at Yinglue Society temporarily to prepare for the Autumn Examination next year?"

Among the six imperial examinations, the first three are completely hosted by local governments. As long as there is no major war, the county government examinations will be held every year. The last three are mobilized at the national level and are held every three years. The most recent Jinshi examination was in the eighth year of Jiajing last year, so there is naturally no Jinshi examination this year.

In other words, if Hai Yue and Hai Rui passed the first three exams and became scholars, if they wanted to continue taking the exam, they would have to wait until the provincial examination held in the autumn of the following year, commonly known as the Autumn Examination.

After passing the imperial examination, one would go to the capital to take part in the metropolitan and palace examinations.

During this period, Hai Yue planned to take Hai Rui to live in her home.

When the time comes, I will improve the food for this younger brother and make him stronger. This will not only help him with fertility, but will also help him make better progress in officialdom in the future.

Xie was startled when she heard this, and subconsciously wanted to refuse at first. But just as she was about to say it, she saw Haiyue's tall and strong figure, which made her son's skinny look even more obvious. She sighed and changed her tone, "Don't think about it now. Let's talk about it after the exam!"

"okay!"

Haiyue smiled, knowing that this was the agreement.

In fact, if Hai Rui could really pass the college entrance examination and become a scholar at the age of seventeen, and then return to the clan, not only would he not have to worry about other people's opinions, but he would be the most important talent to be trained in the clan in the next stage.

The Hai family had made their fortune by passing the imperial examinations, but this generation of children had yet to produce a successful candidate. The third son, who was originally the most knowledgeable, gave up on himself and became obsessed with menial tasks after failing the imperial examinations twice.

Not to mention the cultural desert of Lao Wu, who couldn't even read the Three Character Classic at the age of nine. Hai Yue and Hai Rui, who are now studying in the academy, have actually received the attention of their ancestors and uncles.

As they were talking, Xie went to cook. Hai Rui wanted to help but was kicked out. He came to Hai Yue and whispered, "Brother, thank you!"

"Don't say that!"

Haiyue patted his shoulder and said, "Auntie may appear strict, but in reality, she has a soft heart. She will never look down on you. In fact, she is proud of you, but she doesn't know how to express it..."

"Is it?"

Hai Rui had never thought of it that way before. He whispered, "Is it the same with Second Uncle and Second Aunt?"

"They...are more comfortable!"

Thinking of his parents in this life, a strange look crossed Haiyue's face. Haihao and Zhu Lin were his parents in this life. They had three sons and two daughters. Haiyue was the youngest son. His two older brothers were his second and fourth brothers, and his two older sisters were already married.

Yinglue Society was founded by Hai Hao, but this martial arts master and the best warrior in Qionghai did not know how to run a society. Yinglue Society suffered losses for years in his hands and was unable to make ends meet. It was not until his fourth brother took over that the society began to grow rapidly. Now, not only in Qionshan, but also in the whole Qionghai, people come here to learn martial arts.

Discovering that his son was capable of handling things on his own, Haihao felt relieved and left with his wife, saying he was going to visit friends out of town.

At first, he only went there for two or three months every year, and then the stay became longer and longer. In the past one or two years, he no longer came back, but just sent someone to bring back letters to report his safety.

To be honest, as far as Haiyue is concerned, she thinks this is a good idea.

He didn't want to be treated as an orphan and have all his parents and relatives die after traveling through time, but if he had to follow the ancient rules and support his parents in this world all day long, he would find it a bit unbearable.

So he really hopes that his parents can have their own lives and not pin all their hopes on their children all day long, like what happened to Mrs. Xie, which is too depressing.

Of course, filial piety was paramount in ancient times, and one couldn't show excitement when their parents weren't around. Hai Yue's face was solemn, and she clenched her fists. "We'll all pass the imperial examinations early to repay our parents for their kindness in raising us. You have a good talent for literature, and you're calm in the face of difficulties. You deserve to be on the list of successful candidates, bringing honor to our family!"

"Yes!"

Hai Rui's eyes were filled with determination: "Brother, you can get into high school too!"

"As for me, I'm relying on you to supervise me. Otherwise, I really can't finish these Cheng Wenmo scrolls..."

Haiyue adopted the later method of writing essays. The so-called Chengwen Mojuan was the model essay of this era.

If you can integrate the Four Books and Five Classics with Zhu Xi's annotations, then when you write eight-part essays, you will naturally be able to write like a god. If you can't do that, then just learn from others. All the articles in the world are plagiarized!

It’s just that many scholars disdain to do so and insist on gaining insights from the writings of sages on their own, but Haiyue has no such burden at all.

It’s just a diploma exam, why be so serious about it?
Under his influence, even Hai Rui, who had previously paid little attention to Cheng Wenmo's scroll, began to focus on reviewing it.

As the days passed, there were already many more students rushing to take the exams on the streets of Qionshan, and the atmosphere of the county exam was approaching.

However, one day, a burly man with a full beard dismounted from his horse in front of the Hai family. It was Long Ge'er, Fourth Brother's right-hand man in the Yinglue Society, who brought follow-up news on the case: "Yue Ge'er, the identity of the victim has been determined. He is from the Li people of Yazhou."

"Li people?"

Hai Yue was stunned at first, but then suddenly realized: "There are not many Li people with such bookish air. But it's no wonder that he believed the lies of the Annan killers and dared to disguise himself as an envoy from a foreign vassal state..."

The Li people are a minority ethnic group in Hainan, but their number on the island is also considerable. Li vendors can often be seen on the streets of Qionshan, and some women even go barefoot with their legs exposed, looking very graceful.

Apart from being controlled by chieftains, the living habits of many Shuli tribes were not much different from those of the Han people, and there were naturally scholars among them.

But these scholars are also discriminated against and cannot be treated like ordinary people. When Haiyue gets along with "Li Weining", she has a vague feeling that the other party wants to prove himself. Now it seems that this is the reason.

"What's his name?"

"It's a common surname among the Li people. It's Na, and her name is Na Ying!"

"..."

This name sounded awkward to people in later generations, but it is not surprising now.

If Haiyue remembers correctly, there was another Na Yan uprising on Hainan Island twenty years later in history. It caused such a huge commotion that it could be called the Little Fang La of Qionghai.

But judging by Long Ge'er's expression, it seemed the matter wasn't over yet. "Are the other party's relatives going to take the body back? We've already set up a mourning hall to hold a vigil for him. Now that we've contacted the relatives, we can just hand over the coffin."

"It's not that simple. I'm afraid Li Ren wants revenge for Na Ying..."

Long Ge'er said in a serious tone, "Just this morning, three bodies were found in front of the government office. They were the three Annan assassins who had escaped earlier!"

(End of this chapter)